Quick Hits #5

Flying Business class or above is the only way to fly international. Trust me!

I've seen more people picking their noses in public in 4 days here than I have in a year in San Diego.

I bought a badminton racquet and I am going to start playing! I think I could be good! (watch out James from my old SD County job)

No adult male in VN wears a t-shirt. Only collared shirts.

In the space of one hour I ate banana flower, snail soup and sauteed pumpkin stem.

The girl at the internet cafe asked which festival Halloween celebrated. "Just for fun and because we like candy!" was the answer.

Only the USA can make a good hamburger. No country I have been to has been able to translate hamburger well at all.

Last night I took a big Cipro dose to stave off what might happen from eating said example from above^^^^^^^.

I was kicked out trying to sneak into Rossi's pit, I was kicked out for trying to walk past the barricade to HCM's mausoleum and then I was kicked out of Li Thai Tho's park for playing badminton before 5pm. So naughty!

I am now in the Business class lounge waiting for my flight to Taipei. Can't wait!!

QH #4

The lassitude and permissiveness of the European parents I have seen makes me soooo disgusted!

Fashion is king in Ha Noi and they are fierce with it.

Two badminton racquets and a tube of ten birdies was $17 USD!!

The Ho Chi Minh mausoluem has been closed due to the Indoor Asia Games. And the traffic police here mean it! You can't even get close.

Pizza in Viet Nam is wayyyy better than Chinese food in Rome!! For sure.

I took a cooking class and am excited to try some new things. Part of the class they gave me supplies too with the recipes, so I have no excuse not to try.

Some of the horns here have a effect that sounds like an amplified Doppler effect in how it falls off.

I have not seen one person begging here.

The girl at the pho shop recognizes me now.

I had a dream last night where it was if I was a priest and I found out I was married to a witch, with all the repercussions.

When they say "old quarter" of Ha Noi, they mean it!

I have taken over 800 pictures!!

Quick Hits #3

Ha Noi has about 6 million people and i think i've seen most of them! hahaha. it is a busy place!

Last night I had pho on the street that was the best ever for about 2USD!! Amazing.

The quickie Vietmanese lesson I had before leaving has been soooo helpful. Awesome, thank you M.!!!

At the GP race I traded my Fox hat to a security guard for his hat. So I now have a security hat from the Sepang circuit. hahaha.

I played badmitton this morning in a square with a Vietmanese girl. It was fun and everyone laughed and laughed.

My red hair and being the only American in most of the places I have been attracts a lot of staring. It is funny and I dont mind.

Last night I took A MILLION VN Dong out of the ATM. So yeah, let the jokes commence about "a million dong"....

Found the souvineirs I wanna buy, gonna visit the infamous Hanoi Hilton and today is a cooking class. fun fun!

QH 2

Vietnam is a world apart from where I just was, in Malaysia. It is louder, faster, busier, bigger, older, dustier. Crazy. And I really like it.

The hotel is super POSH. The nicest I have ever been in. (reading the biggest hit to the bank account in history as well)

Overheard, "I'm feeling as rough as a badger's backside" in a thick Scottish accent.

The flight from KL to HCMC and Hanoi went great! Very easy. I did need to eat at a BK in the HCMC airport to kinda 'reset' myself.

I now feel like going home will feel odd and that this is normal.

Tomorrow I am taking a half day cooking class. Fun. Today is wandering around Hanoi and shopping.

See ya in 5 days!

Vacation Quick Hits

-If you are lucky, you can be in the international terminal at LAX in 2 hours exactly, from San Diego

-Who in their right mind thinks they can check 8 bags for one person on an international flight and not have it be an issue. When half of them are cardboard boxes? Why it is Dr. Abdul Radjaman who was in front of me, that's who!

-First class on EVA is very nice. Food is so-so, but the seat was very very comfortable.

-Never ever go to a line manned by a female at immigration. Never.

-Malaysia is pretty laid back. Very Muslim. Lots of green. Food is so-so.

-Rossi won!! VIP at the track was very nice to have. The easiest big motorcycle race I have been to.

-Most of the guys and girls I saw in Malaysia were not that attractive. South Dakota you might have a challenge...

-I got lost in Putrajaya walking around at night to find a place to eat.

-ATMs are very rare here. Get cash at the airport or you will never ever get a chance again.

I take off for Hanoi Vietnam in a few hours. The weather is no concern and everythign has worked great. Even my cell phone. Only one tummy issue with food and that has resolved.

Taiwan was just dark and rainy, getting the edge of the typhoon that hit the Philippine Islands.

See ya in a week with lots of pics!!

Please excuse Rowdy from blogging......

Dear Readers,

Please excuse Rowdy from blogging from October 21st through November 1st. He will be in Taipei Taiwan, Kuala Lumpur & Sepang in Malaysia and then Hanoi Vietnam. Because of this he will not be able to blog daily as you expect him to.

He will be able to make up the blogging he missed when he returns. Thank you for your understanding.

Rowdystyle AKA "I'm gonna need a new passport soon, this one is almost full!"

A post

Everything has a "rule". For things with two wheels in garages there is a "rule of 6", meaning you can't have more than 6 things with two wheels in your garage at anyone time. Whenever I have broken that rule my garage has been unhappy. Thankfully I am following it now.


When I go on a group ride, I go on a group ride!



A week after vacation, the yard will be "fake" but also much better looking and using no water.

For $sale

Used M1A1 .30 carbine in good condition. 3 magazines. $600 or trade for digital SLR.

My 2010 Athletic Goals

-run an offroad/trail 5k in 20 minutes or less

-go to the World Jiu Jitsu Cup qualifier in CA. if i make it, then go to the WJJC that will be in Abu Dhabi or the UAE or wherever it is in the Middle East.

-compete in the International Masters & Seniors Jiu Jitsu tournament in Brasil

-race the Mt. Ashland or Sea Otter Super D race

-race the Mega Avalanche race in France or one of the Superenduro Cup races

If 3 out of 5 of these occur I will consider it a success. If 4 or 5 out of 5 occur it could almost rate a 'best year ever' status for 2010.

Time Out

First the good:
I rode my mnt bike for two hours today and wasn't even tired.
Roma with whole wheat crust at Pizza Port for dinner.
I might be getting pirahnas for Xmas.
I will be seeing lots of family during the rest of the year.
I am going to be in the February 2010 US qualifier for the World Jiu Jitsu Cup in the Middle East in April 2010.
My new bmx bike and mtb seat post should be here Wednesday.

The bad:
I am suspending my blog for a bit. I like to write fun stuff for you. I like to write a little bit to get things off my chest. But sometimes things happen a certain way in life and the writing has the potential to get really cathartic.

Rather than write things that are venting, written in hot blood or just too personal I am gonna take a little break.

I will give a great big update when I get back from my Southeast Asian vacation and start writing again regularly. For now, I need a break though.

Thanks and see you in November. If you need a fix though, I will still be randomly Facebooking short bits of "rowdiness". So friend me already.

Rowdy. Style.

Extreme Sport poll results and actions

If you've been to my blog in the past two weeks you noticed a poll asking your opinion on what "extreme" sport I should try next.

This poll came about in two ways. One was my just being introspective about all the things I have done in life. I was very happy with the wide and varied list. So then my natural tendency to want "more" kicked in and I was thinking, "what next?"

With that in the back of my mind I was out surfing with the guys and one of them mentioned to me, "You know, I have a kite board set up I will let you borrow. It would be perfect for someone who weighs as little as you do. Take the lessons and then I'll just let you borrow it for as long as whatever and I'll just get it back from you the few times per yer conditions are right for me to use it."

Thus the wheels began turning... And as I am always interested in sharing with you dear readers (duh, why else have a blog?) I put up the poll.

Results came in like this, 'nothing new' scored 0 votes which really surprised me as I am sure one of my family members would have voted this out of some sort of protective reflex. 'My first amateur MMA fight' garnered only 2 votes. Again, not the result I expected. Spearfishing was an early leader and held it right until the last few days of the poll with finally 5 votes.

The winner then became kite boarding! Which works out great in that I have a source who can help me with equipment. And I am less likely to drown kite boarding over spearfishing. Now I just need to take some kite boarding le$$on$.

And that's the rub. Or at least where my just overall zeal for new and exciting things sometimes gets the better of me. As you know I work at a bike shop right now, I've been racing my mountain bike all summer and fall and have had some success. Great fun! But with that I realized to myself, "hmmmmm, the Olympic Training Center for BMX is here in San Diego. I can get a discount on bikes. I can race easily once or twice a month. I've never done it before and it would be totally new. Hmm...."

Guess what? Yep you are right, I bought a BMX bike. I used my discount at work and purchased a 09 Mirra Black Pearl 1 that was on closeout. It should be here Wednesday! I will build it up during my lunch and probably be racing it the week I get back form Malaysia and Vietnam. I don't think I will have time to get a practice session and race in before we leave.

This is important because one, I have never owned a bmx bike. Two, I have never then raced a bmx bike or ridden one more than just around the block. So to go from a 6" travel full suspension mountain bike to a rigid 20" wheeled bmx bike, and racing it, is going to be how shall I say.........interesting?

So there you go. The poll came up and you voted, with the unexpected result being something not even on the poll is what is going to happen first. Rest assured though you will be seeing me on a kite board soon. The thrill of the speed and jumping one just are too much for me. I'm on it!

The bike The Chula Vista track The Kearny Moto Park track

Tender Greens in Liberty Station/Point Loma

Rating: ****
Recommendation: Go.

Parking is so so, the restaurant itself is towards the back of the center but the overall setting is very nice.

The menu is limited, so don't worry about not knowing what to get as you only have 4 types of choices to make. The staff is attractive, friendly and tolerant of newbies to the restaurant. Decor and overall setting and vibe could lend itself from t-shirt and jeans to something a little nicer.

I ordered the hot plate with flank steak. Their default level of cooking is medium rare, so you have to ask if you like more doneness than that. My simple salad was baby spinich and I also ordered at tomato soup. I don't drink so my beverage was a cream soda.

If you are stingy you could get by on $10 a person but to really have a total meal you can do $15 person and be quite happy.

So go there! Walk in, pick what you want, walk down the counter and pay for it and then sit down and enjoy something like this:

There is only one location in San Diego, but you can go to their website and view the simple, delicious menu. And then go.

One of these things IS like the other...

What do Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies, Lance Armstrong and I have in common? (more than one answer may apply)





a-we are all in our 30's, but don't look it or act it.

b-we are all two wheeled terrors.

c-we all have been to italy, france and germany.

d-we all have the same haircut.

e-we have all dated super models.

My water saving adventure continues

So, in my new found idealism for water conservation I have done a few things:

1-I have an appointment next week to get the grass replaced with synthetic turf.

2-I place a 3 gallon bucket in the shower to catch the water that would run down the drain while I am waiting for the shower to get warm. This water is then used to water the plants, garden or whatever I have outside that needs watering. I am capturing and using water that would otherwise run down the drain.

3-I have reduced the water level in the 3 toilets in my house so that they use half a gallon less per flush than they previously did.

4-I no longer shave in the shower.

These items should easily reduce my water usage by 50%. And I am totally happy about it!

Dinner Tonight

Tender Greens in Point Loma. Think of it as a foodie Soup Plantation.....or Urban Eats.

Either way, I am going and I am getting the hot plate and a soup. YUM.

Sat night we are having a shrimp boil and Sun night we are having tilapia!

Jealous yet????????

But before I can go out for dinner I need to:
-go to bikram yoga from 9-1030am (x)
-tear out some water sucking plants and replace with rock (x)
-get an appointment for the synthetic turf consultation (x)
-schedule K for his lessons
-laundry (x)
-empty the dishwasher
-get my paycheck (x)
-plan for tomorrow EPIC mountain bike ride (x)
-buy new sunglasses (x)
-buy green athletic shorts (x)

(x)= getting the job done before dinner.

!Feliz Cumpleanos!

random tuesday pictures

Absolutely NOTHING about this picture makes me want to go to Scottsdale. Nothing.
Irony, a CD sitting on top of a perfect vintage record player
Not if you ride a supermoto buddy!
Death is always around the corner...

Life, in its many forms.....

Infliximab, will you inflict lymphoma or TB on me?

What can brown do for you?

How come everything I wore that day was a shade or hue of brown??

And in other clothing news..... This morning I went through my closet and tossed a ton of t-shirts out. Primarily ones from jiu jitsu competitions and supposedly funny irony tees.

Is this some sort of latent sign of maturity that I am ditching most of my logo/irony/funny t-shirts?

I hope not.

********I also need a tie breaking vote in the poll. Anyone!**********************

Big Big Changes >orrrrr< I may be conservative, but I'm not stupid

San Diego has a money problem and a water problem. While I can't help the city with their cash flow I can help with our water scarcity.

Here is how I am making big personal changes to do it.

1. I am going to stop shaving in the shower as of today. I spend probably 5 minutes shaving in the shower every other day. The water is just running down the drain for nothing other than my comfort while I am shaving. My shower head flows about 7 gallons per minute. In one shower I waste almost 35 gallons of water due to shaving in the shower. I have to stop this. Shaving in the sink before I hop in the shower should only use at most a gallon.

Shaving in the shower= 7,280 gallons of water per year

Shaving in the sink= 208 gallons per year for a savings of almost 7,000 gallons of water per year!!!

2. I am getting rid of the small bit of natural grass that is at the house and replacing it with synthetic turf. This is kinda like converting to solar power in that it takes a while to see a return, but it will still be worth it in the short run for several factors. One being we will no longer have to spend money for a gardener. I can water the decorative stuff outside myself and do a small bit of pruning and weeding. Two, the ability again to cut down water usage by not watering the lawn.


"Clean up your own back yard before you go looking over your neighbor's fence"

Please, check what you're doing and find a way to save. It doesn't matter what political party you follow, what race you are, how much money you make we all live in the same city so we all need to do something about it.

Today's Activities Powered By:

This morning's Rowdy Style action will be brought to you by the power of:
Oatmeal with brown sugar
Nectarines
Strawberries
Canadian Bacon
Water

And they might as well just call this candy "Rowdy" !!!!!!!

Jiu Jitsu Musings

-New old gi. I lived in a town with no BJJ academy in 1997 and was basically learning from a guy who had the first Renzo VHS tapes. It was soo addicting I bought judo mats and left them at the gym in college so I could train. Training back then was just basically sparring with someone who knew more than me. Well with AOL really being the main way I was on the internet then, that is where I searched for a proper gi, to emulate what I saw my only real JJ example, Royce, wearing. So after much internet searching, not very fun back then to find JJ stuff in the US, I settled on Krugans Tribal gi in A1. It was 150 dollars back then! Wow, I felt like I was theeee coolest guy around. A gi with patches. Wow.

But then things in life happened and I stopped training at all in 2001. Finally of course now I am back at it and have gone through a few gi's in the past two years. I just "killed" my Gameness gi by leaving it soaked with sweat on something that was red. The result was a splotchy pink gi. NO GOOD!

Hop on the internet again and what do I find? Krugans still in the business and I can get the same gi now for only 120 dollars! Nice. Ordered up an A2 as I weigh 139lbs versus the 125lbs I weighed when I started. (Size A2 also allows me more freedom in washing and drying it)

So here I am, having started my training anew and wearing the same gi from the first time.

-Creonte. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has politics. And drama. The term "creonte" is a Brazilian word that basically means "traitor". Where I train has had it's own version of drama with this lately. I could probably write 2,000 words on this subject but I will try to keep it brief. Read this, with a thick skin, if you want to know moreLink


Where I train, if you have been there a long time and if that is where you earned your black belt(bb) at, upon earning your black belt as a reward for your dedication and loyalty you are allowed to train for free. This is a blessing for everyone. Hopefully the black belt stays to help train the people coming up and hopefully their wallet enjoys the respite, as training is basically $130 a month. Figure a black belt takes 9 years to get and that is a $14,040 investment!

So if you are a bb at one place where you have been forever, now training for free, and you got to another place and pay for training....well, I don't think anyone should be surprised when feelings are hurt and "things happen."

Unless you have trained or been in the military or something you don't understand how the years of sweating, bleeding and training together really makes you feel like family. Or in a gang. And families and gangs have their expectations of behavior when you've been in them a while.

Right or wrong as they may be. Or old fashioned or whatever, if you break them don't be surprised at what happens.

-Advancement. I have been a blue belt for a year now, with no stripes. This shouldn't bother me but it does. I beat people in the Pan Ams who had stripes and I took second in my division, no stripes. I am there at least twice a week unless I am hurt always working hard and with a good attitude, no stripes. People who I roll with that are heavier than me, with stripes we always come to a draw, no stripes. I don't know what I am doing wrong... I've seen guys get their purple after 2.5 years, so I felt I would have had at least one freaking stripe by now.

-This Thursday morning I saw Demian Maia at the academy. It is always interesting to see professional fighters in real life for the first time. Kind of like when I saw Royce for the first time, Demian just seems like a "normal" guy. This is totally unlike the times I saw Bas Rutten or Mark Kerr in real life.

Seeing Demian reminds me I need to do more with Alvaro Romano, aka Ginastica Natural.